Electronics for Kids: Play with Simple Circuits and Experiment with Electricity
Step 8 Stage an Intruder Alert 17 Step 9 What If the Intruder Alarm Doesn’t Work 17 What’s Next 18 2 Making Things Move with Electricity and Magnets 19 How Magnets Work 20 Try It Out Find Some Magnetic Objects 21 Meet the Electromagnet 22 Project 3 Create Your Own Electromagnet 23 Shopping List 24 Tools 25 Step 1 Check Your Bolt 25 Step 2 Remove Insulation from One End of the Coil Wire 26 Step 3 Wind the Wire 27 Step 4 Connect the Negative Battery Terminal to the Coil 28 Step 5 Connect the Switch 28 Step 6 Test Your Super Electromagnet 30 Step 7 What If the Electromagnet Isn’t Working 31 Meet the Motor 31 Project 4 Create a Motor 32 Shopping List 34 Tools 35 Step 1 Create the Rotor 35 Step 2 Build the Motor’s Structure 36 Step 3 Place the Magnets 37 Step 4 Reinsulate Part of the Coil 38 Step 5 Rev Up Your Motor 39 Step 6 What If the Motor Doesn’t Work 40 What’s Next 41 3 How to Generate Electricity 43 Generating Electricity with Magnets 44 A Changing Magnetic Field Creates Electricity 44 How Does a Generator Work 45 Creating Electricity from Water or Wind 46 Meet the Multimeter 47 How to Measure Voltage 47 What Are AC and DC 48 x CONTENTS IN DETAIL
Project 5 Make a Shake Generator 49 Shopping List 50 Tools 50 Step 1 Prepare Your Tube 51 Step 2 Wind Your Coil 52 Step 3 Connect the Multimeter 52 Step 4 Shake That Thing 53 Step 5 What If There’s No Voltage 54 Try It Out Using a Motor as a Generator 55 How Do Batteries Work 55 What’s Inside a Battery 55 The Chemistry Behind Batteries 56 What Determines a Battery’s Voltage 57 Project 6 Turn On a Light with Lemon Power 58 Meet the LED 58 Shopping List 59 Tools 60 Step 1 Prepare Your Wires 60 Step 2 Insert Electrodes into a Lemon 61 Step 3 Create Four Lemon Batteries 62 Step 4 Connect the Lemons in Series 62 Step 5 Test Your Lemon Battery 64 Try It Out More Food Batteries 65 Step 6 What If Your Lemon Light Doesn’t Work 65 What’s Next 66 Part 2 Building Circuits 4 Creating Light with LEDs 69 Meet the Resistor 70 Resistor Color Codes 70 How to Write Large Values 72 What Are Resistors Made Of 72 Resistors Control Current and Voltage 73 Introducing Ohm’s Law 73 Project 7 Let’s Destroy an LED 74 Shopping List 75 Step 1 Identify Which LED Leg Is Which 75 Step 2 Break That LED 76 Step 3 What If Nothing Happens to the LED 76 CONTENTS IN DETAIL xi
How to Use an LED Correctly 76 How to Write Small Values 77 Protecting Your LED with a Resistor 77 Calculating the Resistance You Need 78 Project 8 Powering an LED 78 Shopping List 79 Step 1 Twist the Resistor and LED 79 Step 2 Wire the Battery Clip 80 Step 3 Let There Be Light 80 Step 4 What If the LED Doesn’t Work 81 Building Circuits on a Breadboard 81 How to Connect Components and Wires 81 Wires to Use on a Breadboard 83 Project 9 Your First Breadboard Circuit 84 Shopping List 84 Step 1 Place the Resistor 85 Step 2 Place the LED 85 Step 3 Place the Battery Clip 86 Step 4 What If the LED Doesn’t Work 87 What’s Next 87 5 Blinking a Light for the First Time 89 Meet the Capacitor 90 How Capacitors Work 90 Polarized and Nonpolarized Capacitors 91 Capacitor Values 92 Project 10 Test a Capacitor 92 Shopping List 93 Step 1 Start with the LED Circuit 94 Step 2 Add the Capacitor 94 Step 3 Charge the Capacitor 95 Step 4 Use the Capacitor to Light the LED 95 Step 5 What If the Circuit Doesn’t Work 95 Describing Circuits with Symbols 95 Meet the Relay 97 Using the Relay to Blink a Light 99 Slowing Down the Blinking 100 Project 11 Blink a Light 101 Shopping List 102 Step 1 Identify the Relay Pins 103 Step 2 Make the Relay Switch Fast 104 xii CONTENTS IN DETAIL
Step 3 Make the Relay Stay On Longer 105 Step 4 Make the Relay Stay Off Longer 106 Step 5 Add the LED and Resistor 106 Step 6 What If the LED Won’t Blink 108 Try It Out Make Your Intruder Alarm More Effective 108 What’s Next 109 6 111 Let’s Solder How to Solder 112 Soldering Safety Tips 113 Heat the Soldering Iron 114 Clean the Soldering Iron Tip 115 Tin the Soldering Iron Tip 115 Heat Both the Pin and the Pad 115 Add Solder 116 Remove the Soldering Iron 116 Watch Out for Bad Solder Joints 117 Project 12 Solder Your First LED Circuit 118 Shopping List 118 Tools 119 Step 1 Place the Components 120 Step 2 Bend the Component Legs 120 How to Read the Circuit Board Illustrations 121 Step 3 Heat and Clean the Soldering Iron 122 Step 4 Solder the Resistor and LED 122 Step 5 Trim the Legs 122 Step 6 Solder the Battery Clip 123 Step 7 Let There Be Light 124 Step 8 What If the Soldered LED Circuit Doesn’t Work 124 Oops How Do I Remove a Soldered Component 125 Project 13 Desolder the Battery Clip 126 Shopping List 126 Tools 126 Step 1 Heat the Soldering Iron 127 Step 2 Place the Solder Wick on the Solder Joint 127 Step 3 Heat the Solder Joint and the Solder Wick 128 Step 4 Trim the Used Solder Wick 128 Step 5 Remove the Other Battery Clip Wire 129 Try It Out Solder More Stuff 129 What’s Next 130 CONTENTS IN DETAIL xiii
